This week, the Supreme Court will take up a classic David-and-Goliath case. On one side, there's a 75-year-old farmer in Indiana named Vernon Hugh Bowman; on the other, the agribusiness giant Monsanto.

In a debate hosted by the League of Women Voters and Champaign County NAACP Friday, Les Stratton and incumbent Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing differed on largely economic issues, and how to improve public safety.

Illinois state Sen. Toi Hutchinson dropped out of the race Sunday for the U.S. House seat vacated by Jesse Jackson Jr., saying that her continued candidacy risked sowing divisions among her fellow Democrats.

President Barack Obama's pick to be defense secretary is unsuited to head the Pentagon, but Republican senators should stop stalling the nomination and allow a vote on Chuck Hagel, a leading opponent said Sunday.